items tagged with The Town

Before commencing with the annual fawning, I thought I’d begin by exercising one of my God-given rights as a reviewer: the right to bitch about the sorry state of movies. I think it’s supposed to go something like this:

Boy, are the movies in a sorry state!

THE TOWN

Director/co-writer/star Ben Affleck’s crime drama The Town is an enjoyable, frustrating, fascinating contradiction: a movie with a storyline that’s nearly impossible to buy, yet one performed and directed with such assurance and strength that it’s nearly impossible not to buy. You can roll your eyes at the film’s many clichés and contrivances, but you can’t say they’re presented with anything less than full commitment; for a two-hour-plus movie that doesn’t provide even one truly novel character, situation, insight, or plot twist, The Town is remarkably fresh.

EASY A

With the release of The Town, Ben Affleck’s directorial career, in my opinion, now boasts a two-for-two success ratio. So does Will Gluck’s, who follows last year’s hilarious (and sadly under-praised) male-cheerleader parody Fired Up! with the current, also hilarious ’80s-teen-flick parody Easy A. It’s no doubt too soon – and maybe even too ridiculous – to ask this, but is it possible that Gluck is our long-awaited heir apparent to Christopher Guest?